Family

As a parent volunteer at my boys’ elementary school, I frequently have children laugh at me and ask why I’m wearing a pink bracket or shirt. For them pink isn’t a boy’s color. Perhaps when they are older they will understand I wear it not as a fashion statement or because I look good in pink, but rather to show support for my wife who battles breast cancer.

In all likelihood, I will never endure the pain of being treated for breast cancer. The fear you have when you discover that lump is indescribable. The sickening feeling that overwhelms you when your doctor discusses the results, and options, is equally horrible. I will never endure the pain and suffering, both physical and mental, of having a double mastectomy and subsequent recovery. What I can do is stand proudly with my wife every step of the way, hold her hand to comfort her, and assure her that she is not alone in this life-changing battle.

My 2012 New Year’s Parenting Resolutions

I have plenty of adult resolutions, too … clean up after myself, stop leaving my clothes laying of the bathroom floor, and play less Angry Birds. But I also have a separate little iPhone app filled with parenting resolutions and ideas. I’m trying to make them simple enough to actually. I came up with 6, and hopefully I’ll actually do ’em. Wish me luck.  Remember, if your kids are acting up, champagne tastes just as elegant in a sippy cup.

1. Make interesting meals. It seems the only things my boys want to eat are hot dogs, chicken nuggets, pizza and candy, lots of candy.  I know this is not the healthiest of choices so I’m hoping we can find some fruits and veggies that the boys will enjoy.  I’m sure their dentist will appreciate it.

I have dreams of cooking from this vintage Winnie the Pooh cookbook, which came out in 1969. The recipes might not be the healthiest (spoiler alert: there’s a lot of honey), but now that Jordan has his very own kitchen I think he’ll enjoy “baking” alongside me. On weekends, anyway.

In the mid 90’s a popular quote from Africa that was used as a title for a book by Hillary Clinton entitled “It Takes a Village to Raise a Child” I often feel as if someone in Africa has me in mind when they coined that phrase.

You see I find myself in an inimitable position here, for most of the year life kind of takes me where it wants to go with business as usual. But then comes May, the month that we set aside the second Sunday to honor mothers. Early in my youth this was an easy process. In kindergarten I recall making my mom a candle that we made in class by pouring wax into sand at the communal sand box. I hid this precious gift in our pickup truck under the seat so no one would find it. Yeah this was the 1964 Ford Pickup that hauled all six of us around where ever we went. No seat belts back then, but with 4 kids and two adults; I doubt there was really a need for belts to be worn. Many a time I recall being the one sitting on the passenger floorboard between someone’s legs as we drove down the road hitting every bump and pothole along the way. At least it was warm down there all balled up next to the heater.

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As I sit here on my 39th birthday, I am contemplating life. It seems to go in phases doesn’t it, or rather in decades. You’re a child for ten or so years, then a teenager. Soon enough you’ve made it as a twenty something and then that pivotal thirty crops Read more…

They say when people die, they go in three. For me, the three who recently passed away, never knew each other, in fact one, never even met me. But all three has some level of impact on me and who I am today. The first person to pass away was Read more…

Today is Memorial Day, Formerly known as Decoration Day, it commemorates U.S. men and women who perished while in military service to their country. First enacted to honor Union soldiers of the American Civil War, it was expanded after World War I to include casualties of any war or military Read more…